Mismatched writer and director makes for a mediocre melodrama.

Beautifully directed in Ahn Pan Seok's signature style, but unfortunately the writing isn't on par with the production. While APS often chooses dramas with a strong thematic narrative over detailed characters or complex plots, MRIH didn't developed any of those elemnts. Newbie KDrama writers usually work for years as uncredited assistants before they shop their own scripts and this one probably should have stayed an assistant a while longer.

Something in the Rain and One Spring Night (APS's previous works) are middle-class societal issues slice of life with melodrama romances. They primarily tackle how parental abuse primes women to accept abuse in the workplace and their romantic relationships, which creates a cycle. The FL is saved by the love of the ML, but he's an unsuitable partner and they have to conquer trials, tribulations and villains to be together.

Classic melodrama, close curtain.

MRIH doesn't deviate much from that formula - embattled hagwon tutor FL trapped in a career-life crisis until first student (and of course, first love) ML shows up to free her - but puts more focus on issues in lieu of romance. Which is perfectly fine, if the writer does a good job at meaningfully addressing those issues.

So what critique does MRIH offer?

That education should focus on students... without any realistic means to do that.
That authority in education is the enemy... without any exploration of how or why.
That teachers should be good teachers... which just circles on back to the first point.

It leaves a lot to be desired in depth and subtlety, especially compared to similar dramas that tackle education issues. The plot that attempts to reinforce those themes is equally lacking - it's mostly petty office politics blown exponentially out of proportion with some makjang circumstances and farcical villains to match.

The lack of a strong narrative would be understandable if the relationships and personal struggles of the cast took a central role instead, but every side character speaks with one expository voice - the writer's. And the writer is only concerned with one thing - hammering their message home over and over and over.

There's really nothing else to distinguish MRIH except the romance, which isn't particularly compelling unless you're into the student/teacher taboo. ML is a manic pixie dream boy - impulsive, devoted and with minimal development outside of facilitating FL's journey to personal fulfillment. FL suffers from Mature Female Lead Syndrome - so well rounded there's no edge to her personality. Together, they're unmemorable except for the florid bodice ripper romantic interludes that occur with regrettable regularity.

UPDATE: Having now finished the drama, I stand by all the assesments in this review.

Leia Mais

A deeply touching love story wrapped in revenge, reget and the law.

If you're looking for the sort of "fun while it lasts but forgettable when it ends" Kdrama romcom format that's all the rage these days you won't find it here: I Hear Your Voice is anything but forgettable. Its message that everyone deserves to be heard and treated with compassion to avert deeper tragedies - on the personal or societal level - is both melancholy and cheesily heartfelt in the best way and the romance has the same mix of emotional complexity and lightheartedness.

First, let's lay some groundwork:

1. The age gap. If you enjoyed Hidden Love it's doubtful you'll have a problem with it considering the leads are the same age when they get together: ML is 19 and FL is in her mid-twenties.

2. MDL complaints about every noona romance having "no chemistry" smack of toxicity. So if you can't get over the visuals of an older FL with a younger ML: don't watch it. Maybe examine your life and your choices.

3. It's no surprise most negative reviews are from people who hate FL or the romance because it features very non-traditional gender roles for a Kdrama. FL plays the ML role: she's an arrogant tsundere who brings home the bacon and can't trust or rely on others. ML plays the FL role: he's a supportive sweetheart who does all the housework and struggles with self worth. Somehow this makes both leads awful to a certain subset because ML behavior from a FL (and vice versa) is unforgivable. See again: your life, your choices.

But enough about the patriarchy. On to the plot.

The format is a mix of episodic and main story with the episodic cases introducing you to how public defenders work in South Korea sprinkled with social commentary. Judges and prosecutors have all the power and a 99% conviction rate; the public defender's job is to make nice and plea for leniency. Not that that stops FL once she gets going because even at her apathetic worst she has a better sense of justice than prosecutor frenemy SFL who's one step away from "I am the law" authoritarian. It's their rivalry that drives the legal story, aided by FL's pragmatic boss, idealistic co-worker SML and ML who forces FL to see the best in herself and is always ready to lend a hand when she can't.

The revenge is a slow burn that develops with the romance as it guides all the connected characters back together to deal with the fallout from a series of events in the past. Not exactly unique for Kdramas, but the difference here is how intensely personal everything is. There's no psycho villain, genius mastermind or corrupt chaebol pulling strings behind the scenes: just flawed people who make difficult choices they have to take responsibility for and struggle and grow as they do.

And no one starts more flawed or grows more than ML or FL. Their romance is them patching up the damaged parts of each other (sometimes literally) through their give and take relationship. It's not a perfect green flag with the circumstances but if you want to watch two leads work out their issues while cutely cohabiting and desperately trying to save each other this really doesn't have a match. FL's journey from someone unwilling to risk herself for others to standing up for ML, her clients and what's right even when there's no chance of success is inspiring to watch. Same with ML starting as someone who completely denies himself in heartbreaking ways because of his trauma to someone who values himself enough to assert himself in heart fluttering territory. I've never rooted so hard for two leads to get together or felt so fulfilled when they finally did.

Honestly, the worst thing I can say about I Hear Your Voice it is it has some gratuitous wrist grabbing near the beginning, some messy SFL family drama near the end and it looks like it was made in 2013. Because it was! If you can get past the older tropes and the uncanny valley of the soap opera effect, it's smooth sailing to a memorable story and the best noona romance I've seen yet.

Leia Mais

The don't make them like this anymore... and I'm glad they don't.

After I Hear Your Voice I was looking forward to another drama by the same writer/PD team and with the same ML, but Pinocchio is kind of a hot mess:

1. Red flag romance where FL is alternately ML's emotional punching bag or cheerleader while ML can't decide between punishing her or himself for their relationship.
2. A plot that's a series of coincidences explained by the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon which is... a choice.
3. Guessing game of "who's the real villain" where the real villain turns out to be the most cliche option possible.

5/10 for an important underlying message about journalistic integrity, touching side stories and a strong ensemble cast. Otherwise, it was hit or miss for me and mostly miss. The story picks up pace after a slow start, but then drags to the point where by Ep12 it lost the thread, by Ep16 it should have been a wrap and at Ep18 it was simply dead in the water. There's some compelling plot lines that get abruptly cut off and a total change of focus in the second half that replaces the previous themes with a revelation that's nothing more than another generic corruption plot. Yawn.

The romance was more rage inducing than yawn inducing. I'm wary of older dramas exactly because of dynamics like this one. ML is an emotionally immature jerk who every once in a while makes a grand gesture which magically redeems all his other behavior. Yes, he has tough circumstances - but continually taking out your trauma on someone else is a HUGE red flag. And FL just rolls with the punches - she even apologizes to him (more than once!) for not being more understanding. There's a few scenes where she asserts herself but she's mostly a sponge for ML's man pain.

Speaking of FL, I expected her to play a much larger role in this drama considering it's literally about her family and she's the one with the titular Pinocchio syndrome but somehow ML is always the center of attention. FL struggles for years to get a job in journalism - genius ML does it in three months. FL builds a relationship with her mom - she torches it in favor of ML's revenge. FL's family is torn apart when ML's identity comes out - she's more worried about him than them. She isn't given much agency or identity outside of her romance with ML which is another HUGE red flag.

Even SML and SFL exist just to provide comic relief or act as plot devices to further ML's story. The rest of the ensemble cast is great and frankly far more interesting, but to waste two leads like that is incredibly lazy writing.

The best thing I can say about Pinocchio is it has a good message and tries to portray people in tough situations attempting to do the right thing. But that gets drowned in the noise of the other needless drama.

Leia Mais

Love is alchemy, not science - it transmutes people.

A look at expectations vs reality in the relationships of several couples with mostly realistic conflicts, flawed but likable characters trying their best and no OTT stakes or makjang villains. If you're looking for a noona ensemble romance ala Romance is a Bonus Book this is a fairly close match in tone and setup and it's a perfect starter Tdrama if you're coming from exclusively watching Kdramas because the production values, fashion and storytelling are all similar.

FL runs a high-profile match-making company and has to confront the idea that by its algorithm she's undesirable - 35, divorced and still mourning her failed marriage. One day she runs into old neighborhood friend, ML - 27, a small time stylist and nursing a long time crush on her. He thinks she's utterly desirable but married because she maintains the image for her business, she thinks he's the perfect guy but not for her. Cue getting to re-know you friends to lovers noona romance, complicated by an ex-husband, serious girlfriend, nosy relatives and differing life circumstances.

The second couple plays on the same theme. 40+ investment banker SFL wants a high spec marriage to save face after an ex left her for a younger woman. At FL's agency she comes in contact with a very unsuitable partner - 40+ rural farmer SML with some inherited land that he wants to keep in the family. They're a complete mismatch on paper and to society but a perfect match in their values, expectations and temperaments.

Unlike most reviewers the BL couple was the weakest part of the story for me. There's still a good message there about expectation vs reality - TML thinks he's straight and discovers he's bisexual, along with some other surprises down the line - but the presentation of the serious issues brought up left a lot to be desired.

The stories come together to show that sometimes what we think we want in love and life is different from what we actually need. Overall an enjoyable watch if you enjoy low key slice of life romance that isn't trite or fairy floss - there's substance here to appreciate.

And I usually don't comment on skinship because even the best skinship can't save a bad script, but Taiwanese dramas are definitely on a different level compared to Kdramas. If that's a major factor for you, you won't be disappointed - the scene where FL pulls ML into the shower with her is pretty memorable.

Leia Mais

Lazy writing, 2D characters and a lame long love triangle = a waste of time

I'm 99% certain the people who praise the romance and chemistry in this one are blinded by their love for PSJ. Both leads over or under act without hitting the authenticity sweet spot and the relationship circumstances are way less believable than the standard meet cute romcom. I'm a fan of noona dramas but this romance felt flimsy from the start - more love bomb than romcom - and it never got better.

Then as soon as the illogical love triangle rears its ugly head the leads did a total 180 - FL goes from self assured to wishy-washy while ML goes from supportive to immature man child. If a story says one thing then expects a viewer to accept something different with no build up just to inject some drama it's frankly not a good story. Don't even get me started on SML, who's a romance road block instead of an actual 3D character.

The plot isn't anything special either - just lies, misunderstandings and miscommunications with some background office drama - so once the romance stalls there's no point sticking around. In retrospect I should have listened to all the comments telling people to skip episodes 8-12 but again: if you have to skip 1/3 of a drama to enjoy a drama it's not a good drama.

Leia Mais

Amazing cinematic start that downgrades to fun then forgettable.

This is such a generically beige KDrama that's it's no surprise to me that it's so popular: there's absolutely nothing that stands out in the story or relationships for anyone to feel strongly about, so it's universally appealing as an easy watch. Add to that some very pretty faces with glossy blockbuster production to rival JJ "Lens Flare" Abrams (and some equally annoying quirks) and you've got yourself a milquetoast mass market hit.

Basically: Quirky journalist FL has a power she doesn't understand and can't control (despite dealing with it most of her life). Hapless prosecutor ML crashes in on the scene, gets powers of his own and then teaches FL how to use hers for good! They both go from zeros to heroes practically overnight without any meaningful stumbling blocks or character development! Together - with bland do-gooder police sidekick SML - they solve legal cases that all blend into each other because they're equally generic crime mysteries! The dreams (the most interesting part of the drama) end up ruining the thrill factor because there's a clear cheat sheet for the characters to follow to get the best solution. And that's what they do over and over again.

FL, ML and SML should have used their powers to find and save the main plot first because it's suspiciously missing for 3/4s of the drama. Which might have been okay if it were at least chugging along somewhere in the background, but nope. Maybe it finally picks up in the end, but after 12 episodes of formulaic nothingness I've completely lost interest. Main baddie TML is a corrupt defense lawyer who scuttles the heroes hard work on numerous occasions for... personal grudge? Ego? Boredom? Profit? Who knows, because he has no backstory! He's bad, he's there and he tries to ruin things for the heroes over and over because he clearly has nothing better to do, just like the villains of the week.

Rarely do I find a romance as dull as this one. The leads were cute, I guess? Which is all they had going for them because just like the motiveless villains there was no reason for them to get together or stay together. They do it because they're the leads in a romance drama and they need to earn that paycheck. Sure, there's a fated childhood connection or whatever but I need more than that to find a relationship believable and the story gave me nothing to work with beyond some cheesy romantic asides and cringe comedy.

There's nothing I really hate about this drama but there's nothing I love either. Decent entertainment but I can't imagine ever watching this again or even thinking about it beyond writing this review. Strong characters and inspiring stories are why I started watching Kdramas to begin with, but I didn't find either of those here.

Leia Mais

A Kdrama superhero tale lacking in budget, acting and originality.

I was hesitant to watch Healer because I always check the currently watching and dropped ratings for older dramas to get a feel for how well they've aged and it has some polarizing numbers: 7.85/10 for current and 5.25/10 for dropped. But I figured I'd give a shot because of its popularity.

It wasn't a total bust I wasn't wowed either. There's a good story in here somewhere but it feels too much like a tropey Kdrama knockoff of a Marvel franchise: OP parkour secret super hero ML and quirky cutesy sidekick FL team up to take down a cabal of corrupt old rich dudes involved in a far fetched conspiracy. I grew up with that comic book format and this brought nothing new to the table for me except the historical context, which I was more interested in than the romance.

Eventually I dropped it because even positive reviews agree the ending is haphazard and unsatisfying and 20 episodes is way too much time to spend for that kind of pay off.

Leia Mais